Verizon has completed a Network Function Virtualization OpenStack cloud deployment across five of its U.S. data centers.
Verizon said its NFV project, which began in 2015, created a production design based on a core and pod architecture that provides hyperscale capabilities. The project is based on OpenStack with Red Hat Ceph Storage and a spine-leaf fabric for each pod controlled through a Neutron plugin to Red Hat OpenStack Platform. The multi-vendor deployment leverages Big Switch’s Big Cloud Fabric for SDN controller software managing Dell switches, which are orchestrated by Red Hat OpenStack Platform.
Verizon said the OpenStack pod-based design that went from concept to deployment of more than 50 racks in five production data centers in less than nine months. Rollouts are currently in progress in additional domestic data center and aggregation sites, with international locations to be deployed over the next several months. The design also will be adopted in edge network sites by the end of the year.
Architecturally, the large scale NFV deployment had five key needs, which were identified early in the project:
- Resiliency at Scale – The design followed a hyperscale-inspired “core and pod” approach with a 12-rack pod design replicated at data centers across the United States.
- No Bandwidth Bottlenecks – A modern leaf-spine Clos design, using centralized SDN control designed to take the network from spine to leaf to vSwitch and avoid bandwidth bottlenecks.
- Logical Network Design Flexibility – The pod design accommodates unique NFV workloads with unique logical network requirements that share the same physical leaf/spine fabric and vSwitches.
- Reduced Operational Complexity – Operational complexity is reduced through a simplified lifecycle management of the network control systems relative to the OpenStack control systems.
- Integrated Security and Visibility – The NFV Pod is designed to be compliant and secure against intrusions and other threats, monitoring fabric was used to monitor intra-pod traffic and inline traffic.
“Building on our history of innovation, this NFV project is another step in building Verizon’s next-generation network — with implications for the industry. New and emerging applications are highlighting the need for collaborative research and development in technologies like NFV. We consider this achievement to be foundational for building the Verizon cloud that serves our customers’ needs anywhere, anytime, any app.” Adam Koeppe, vice president, network technology planning, Verizon
http://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-launches-industry-leading-large-openstack-nfv-deployment
A 35 minute presentation from this week’s OpenStack Summit in Austin is posted here: https://youtu.be/1aVB3QvEYcI
